Olympic Pole Vaulter Speaks Out After Viral Loss

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French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati traveled to Paris with dreams of winning an Olympic medal, but his dreams were dashed when he accidentally knocked over the bar during a qualifying round on August 3. Although Ammirati did not get the chance to compete for the gold medal, his performance made headlines around the world.

Video from the event showed Ammirati clearing the bar at 5.70m, but his knee appeared to hit the bar and dislocate it. As he went down further, it was clearly his male appendage that hit the bar, ending his Olympic dreams. This led to his dive going viral after he was eliminated from the competition.

Now, looking back on the events, Ammirati shared her sadness at not being able to compete for a medal.

“It's a big disappointment,” the 21-year-old told the French Athletics Federation. “I'm a bit devastated because I didn't miss anything on the third attempt at 5.70m. What I missed was a little bit of jumping in training to fine-tune it.”

“It was the first time I went into a competition without any stress,” she added. “Since I was a complete stranger, I had only one goal: to compete with the public. I almost succeeded.”

Ammirati won gold at the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships. On August 5, Sweden's Armand Duplantis won gold in the pole vault, the United States' Sam Kendricks won silver, and Greece's Emmanouíl Karalís won bronze.

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